Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

No one talks about sin any more. Talking about it makes people uncomfortable. As I began this line of thought I did a word search in BLB.ORG and discovered 66 separate entries under definitions. Some had a long list of explanations, some listed use and effects, topical references, and of course there was the inevitable mentioning of sin offering, what to do about sin.

I list here the first biblical use of the word sin. It is not the first encounter with sin, just the first mention of sin. In context God is speaking to Cain about Cain’s demeanor. Cain as yet has not committed any sin, but he was about to commit the first deadly sin, murder.

The unique issue here is lost on some of us, that Cain and Abel were the first two born in sin. Able made an acceptable sacrifice and Cain did not. These were not sin offerings, neither lad had yet sinned. Their issue was trying to please God, to be acceptable. God looked on Abel’s sacrifice with favor, not so with Cain’s.

Stop and think for a moment about all the souls that were born in sin long before the law was given. Generation after generation sought or did not seek God’s favor, to be looked upon with acceptance without the law.

Abraham, Issac and Jacob all had a relationship with God long before the Law was given to Moses. Did those men sin? If you compare their lives in view of the law, then yes, they sinned. But the law had not been given. Enoch walked with God and pleased God so much that God saved him from the flood that was coming. Noah and sons needed an Ark to save them, Enoch did not.

Abraham is called the father of faith but he died. How did Enoch escape death?

Enoch just like the rest of us was born in sin, but sin did not stop him from having a favorable relationship with God.

Returning once again to the first use of the word sin, let us look at sin’s position. It lies at the door. The door is ill defined. What door? What does the door represent? The door is a transitional place defining that which is within and what is without. Go out and sin will trip you.

So I will now redefine sin in a manner that does not relate to the law, as it did before Moses. If Enoch had a right standing with God and was accepted then let us view sin as anything that puts our right standing with God in danger.

Anything that soils our robes of righteousness is a sin.

John 2:11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

When I was a teen I did not like the path I was on in life, following the mistakes of my oldest brother. I wanted off that path. My first prayer was God’s opportunity to show me He was real. In that moment he took me off the path of anger without cause. He changed me.

Knowing there is a God does not mean that understanding comes with it. I lived the other parts of my life unchanged. Anger was gone but all the other sins were still being manifested in the way I was living. Decades went by believing there is a God but not believing God.

Then my father died and I saw my life as one whole regretful encounter. In my despair I repented of the life I had lived with all its mistakes. The moment I repented God spoke to me.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

When I was a teen I had not done enough to produce godly grief. I was naive. Later after a life of sinfulness, godly grief was present. Repentance at that point led to salvation. I turned and began following Christ.

Now this is my story and it may or may not be your cautionary tale. Maybe similar but not the same. One common denominator is always repentance. We cannot follow Jesus without it.

That night I opened a bible for the first time in years. Regret was left behind and looking forward was the only thing on my mind. Perhaps that is what faith is after repentance, looking in the right place for answers. I didn’t know what I was doing back then. I do now.

Once again, this is my story. We all have a story.

What does yours sound like?